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NASA will close several offices and reduce its workforce to comply with an anti-DEI executive order from President Trump.

NASA's Dawn spacecraft took this image of Ceres' south polar region on May 17, 2017, from an altitude of about 26,400 miles (42,500 kilometers).

Photo Credit: United Launch Alliance Photo Credit: United Launch Alliance Photo Credit: United Launch Alliance Photo Credit: NASA/Skip Williams

NASA received the upper stage for the agency’s Artemis II SLS (Space Launch System) rocket on Mar. 9 supplied by Boeing and United Launch Alliance (ULA). Known as the interim cryogenic propulsion stage, it arrived at the Multi Payload Processing Facility (MPPF) at NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

The upper stage traveled to the spaceport from ULA’s Delta Operations Center at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

While at the MPPF, technicians will fuel the SLS upper stage with hydrazine for its reaction control system before transporting it to the center’s Vehicle Assembly Building for integration with SLS rocket elements atop mobile launcher 1. The rocket’s solid rocket booster segments are already assembled for launch and the core stage soon will be integrated, as will the launch vehicle stage adapter. The upper stage will be mated to the adapter.

The four-story propulsion system is powered by an RL10 engine, which will provide Orion with the boost it needs to orbit Earth twice before venturing toward the Moon.

Photo Credit: United Launch Alliance and NASA/Skip Williams

NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

NASA’s Dawn spacecraft took this image of Ceres’ south polar region on May 17, 2017. Launched on Sept. 27, 2007, Dawn was NASA’s first truly interplanetary spaceship. The mission featured extended stays at two extraterrestrial bodies:  giant asteroid Vesta and dwarf planet Ceres, both in the debris-strewn main asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter.

The spacecraft’s name was meant to present a simple view of the mission’s purpose: to provide information on the dawn of the solar system. The three principal scientific drivers for the mission were to capture the earliest moments in the origin of the solar system, determine the nature of the building blocks from which the terrestrial planets formed, and contrast the formation and evolution of two small planets that followed very different evolutionary paths.

Dawn completed the first order exploration of the inner solar system, addressed NASA’s goal of understanding the origin and evolution of the solar system, and complemented investigations of Mercury, Earth, and Mars. Dawn’s mission ended on Nov. 1, 2018, after two extended missions.

Follow Dawn’s journey from Earth to deep space through the words of mission director and chief engineer, Dr. Marc Rayman.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/UCLA/MPS/DLR/IDA

The moshing galaxies of Arp 105 dazzle in the Space Image of the Day Monday (March 10), which comes courtesy of Hubble.

Two very different movies based on a very similar premise, but with wildly different approaches.

The NASA Ames Science Directorate recognizes the outstanding contributions of (pictured left to right) Jessica Kong, Josh Alwood, and Sam Kim. Their commitment to the NASA mission represents the entrepreneurial spirit, technical expertise, and collaborative disposition needed to explore this world and beyond.

Space Science and Astrobiology Star: Jessica Kong

Jessica Kong is serving as the Facility Service Manager (FSM) for the Astrobiology and Life Science Lab building for the Exobiology Branch while the FSM is away on parental leave. She has applied her expertise as a chemist to connect seamlessly and effectively with N239 staff, and safety, and facility personnel, as well as to coordinate repairs and building shutdowns while minimizing disruption to laboratory research.

Space Biosciences Star: Josh Alwood

Josh Alwood is a researcher for the Space Biosciences Research Branch, focusing on bone biology and biomechanics, reproductive biology, and the nervous system. His pioneering research on molecular mechanisms of skeletal adaptation during spaceflight has advanced the development of countermeasures to protect astronaut health on long-duration missions.

Earth Science Star: Sam Kim

Sam Kim, a systems administrator and deputy project manager with the Earth Science Project Office (ESPO), serves many roles and excels in each one of them. During the 2024 ASIA-AQ field mission, Sam deployed for over two months as a key member of the advanced staging team at each of the mission’s four overseas field sites, ensuring that the facilities were ready for the arrival of the ASIA-AQ science and instrument team, while still performing his mission-critical role as systems administrator.

Despite having recently officially ended its science operations in January, Gaia, one of the most prolific star explorers ever, is still providing new scientific insights. A recent paper pre-published on arXiv (which has not been peer-reviewed but was submitted to the Astrophysical Journal) took another look at some Gaia data to try to find a unique type of astronomical entity - white dwarf stars that are paired up in a binary with a main sequence one. By applying a machine learning technique called a "self-organizing map," they found 801 new white dwarf-main sequence (WDMS) binaries, increasing the total number ever found by over 20%.

Strange events at the heart of the Milky Way could point toward a new dark suspect that annihilates to influence the chemistry of the cosmos.

If you're looking for a streaming deal, this is a must as you can get a huge discount on Disney Plus, Hulu and ESPN Plus, now 72% off.

When downed trees are attacked by beetles, the wood becomes more flammable, demonstrating another way insects can alter the risk of wildfires

When downed trees are attacked by beetles, the wood becomes more flammable, demonstrating another way insects can alter the risk of wildfires

For the second time in two years, a commercial lunar lander built and operated by Intuitive Machines has fallen over on the moon

Ask almost any physicist what the most frustrating problem is in modern-day physics, and they will likely say the discrepancy between general relativity and quantum mechanics. That discrepancy has been a thorn in the side of the physics community for decades. While there has been some progress on potential theories that could rectify the two, there has been scant experimental evidence to support those theories. That is where a new NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts grantee comes in - Selim Shahriar from Northwestern University, Evanston, was recently funded to work on a concept called the Space-borne Ultra-Precise Measurement of the Equivalent Principle Signature of Quantum Gravity (SUPREME-GQ), which he hopes will help collect some accurate experimental data on the subject once and for all.

Quantum fridges, batteries and clocks are brilliant inventions but still limited in power. Now physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern is charting a path to take them to the next level

Quantum fridges, batteries and clocks are brilliant inventions but still limited in power. Now physicist Nicole Yunger Halpern is charting a path to take them to the next level

Some male octopuses tend to get eaten by their sexual partners, but male blue-lined octopuses avoid this fate with help from one of nature’s most potent venoms

Some male octopuses tend to get eaten by their sexual partners, but male blue-lined octopuses avoid this fate with help from one of nature’s most potent venoms

“If we don’t stand together, we will be crushed!”

Mathematicians discuss some of the most compelling unsolved problems in the field